A factorial study of some psychological, vocational interest, and mental ability variables as predictors of success in dental school

Abstract

32 MENTAL ABILITY, PAST-ACHIEVEMENT, MANUAL SKILL, PERSONALITY, AND VOCATIONAL INTEREST VARIABLES BELIEVED TO BE POTENTIALLY USEFUL IN THE SELECTION OF DENTAL STUDENTS WERE FACTOR ANALYZED TO DETERMINE THEIR FACTOR PATTERN IN RELATION TO THE CRITERION VARIABLE, THE DENTAL GRADE POINT AVERAGE. THEN THOSE VARIABLES WHICH SHARED COMMON FACTORS WITH THE CRITERION VARIABLE WERE USED AS INDEPENDENT VARIABLES IN A MULTIPLE-REGRESSION EQUATION FOR PREDICTIVE PURPOSES. FOR THE 72 DENTAL JUNIORS STUDIED, IT WAS FOUND THAT THERE WERE 2 COMMON FACTORS BETWEEN THE "PREDICTOR" VARIABLES AND THE GRADE AVERAGE. 1 FACTOR, DECIDED TO BE ACADEMIC APTITUDE, WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOADED IN 4 "PREDICTOR" VARIABLES BESIDES THE GRADE AVERAGE. THE OTHER FACTOR, RELATED TO MANUAL SKILL, WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOADED IN 3 SUBTESTS OF A MANUAL SKILL TEST AND THE GRADE AVERAGE. ALL BUT 1 OF THE 7 "PREDICTOR" VARIABLES WERE USED IN THE PREDICTIVE EQUATION, 1 VARIABLE BEING DROPPED BECAUSE OF ITS LOW, THOUGH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, FACTOR LOADING. OF ALL THE VARIABLES, THE PREDENTAL GRADE AVERAGE WAS FOUND TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PREDICTOR OF SUCCESS IN DENTAL SCHOOL. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)